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Flickr
Gardening
What is it?
I planted this bush/tree in my yard about three years ago. I thought it was just a flowering tree, but now it is producing berries/fruit and I have no idea what it is. Does anyone recognize what type of plant this is? In the spring it did blossom, but they were short-lived, and over the spring these fruits have been forming in their place. At present the bush is about 5 or 6 feet tall. It is very bushy, and all of the limbs are very pliable. These fruits are sporadically placed throughout the branches from about 1ft from the top to the very bottom branch. I am very curious as to what this plant is.
Macro Photos of AeroGarden Herbs
Last time I grew herbs in an AeroGarden I didn’t have the ability to take macro pics, but now I do. Here are a few of them:
Purple Basil Chives 
Mint Thyme
Dill
Meet my new Hibiscus
I have been looking to find some perineals to replace some of my “re-seeding annuals” in my front flowerbed. I was scouring the Burpee catalog and looking online for some good plants. I found many of the plants to be overly expensive for what equates roughly to a freeze-dried live plants. The other day in the Lowe’s garden center (I had a valid reason for going, I really did) I found these nice hibiscus plants, all on sale 
, so I bought one. I bought one that had none of its blooms open yet, so that the plant would stay dormant a little longer. I was hoping to plant it shortly after I purchased it, but the weather went cold again, so the hibiscus (and the Moses in the Cradle that I bought the same day) have become house plants for now. I am hoping to get them both in the ground this weekend, although, the hibiscus gave us a nice show while inside (see above).
Randomness, Uncertainty and The Pursuit of Accomplishment
Today I woke up fairly late in the day and have been having the weirdest mood shifts and changes in objectives. I have a chapter to finish for my novel, I have put in several random attempts at effort on it, for the same course I also have to “explicate a poem”, which I can do, but I just have to pick a poem for it. In addition to those assignments, I also have to finish my perspective drawing to turn it in on Monday, and also draw an orange with full shading and texture in my sketch book. I have been letting all of this go through my head and I am bouncing between thoughts in my head way too quickly. I have considered working on the mid-term for one of my online classes as well, but haven’t started on it (100 questions, all to be done and turned in by April 7th, most likely by UPS).
Other than academic stuff, I have been looking at LiveCurt.net again, working on some stuff for it and trying to get a grasp of what it is supposed to be. I am feeling like I am trying to do a 4 dimensional website in a 2 dimensional space. I have played with Google Analytics some, primarily adding the Art blog to it. I have also been playing with the idea of a centralized location for all of my blogs, which I then realized are all about me, so therefore belong on LiveCurt.net (my domain-registering addiction is foiled again). Oh, and I have been trying to write blog posts on random shit, and pretty much getting no where. I played a game a little while ago, thinking maybe it would calm me down and let me focus, nope, didn’t happen, I’m still bouncing off the walls with stuff to do, but not nearly enough ambition to accomplish any of them.
Finally, I did finish my loop of looking for a digital camera for my course this summer. I still haven’t decided on or purchased one, but I have at least placed a fall-back candidate in my head. If I can’t decide on anything else, then I am going with the Fugifilm FinePix S5200. It isn’t a true SLR camera, but it gives me the functionality I need for the course. SLR cameras are a little scary with how they work. I don’t like the idea of using a camera that has to rotate a mirror to take a picture, but I guess if I find a real SLR camera that I like, I will go for it, although, the S5200 is definitely a piece to drool over.
Today I have done a lot of “half-done” things, but fully completed nothing. Maybe tomorrow will be part 2 and I will get everything done.
Strawberries Are In The Ground
This evening I convinced myself that I should never accept a good deal from a plant supplier. Back in December my mother was becoming excited at the concept of growing her own strawberries, in January, Burpee sent me an email offer for strawberry plants. I purchased 25 strawberry plants for $15. Not a bad deal, oh, but they made the deal sweeter, for an additional $10, get 50 strawberry plants… ok, no big deal, 50 strawberry plants ordered, to arrive at a later date. The strawberries left my mind until about a week ago, I received a UPS Quantum View notification from Burpee, a package was coming to me. Last Thursday they arrived, 50 strawberry plants, neatly wrapped and ready for planting. I was far from ready for the plants, so I had to make quick plans to get them in the ground.
Yesterday I obtained 100 lbs of cow manure compost (its better than it sounds) and 3.8 cu.ft. of peat moss. I prepared the ground today, placing alternating layers of peat and cow until I was satisfied that I had a good growing surface for the plants. The row was then covered in a garden fabric to keep down weeds, keep the moisture in and also keep the plants warm. The worst part of doing this today was having to soak the strawberry plants in water before planting. The water was cold and once the water became cloudy, it was hard to locate the plants, requiring me to submerge part of my arm. Twenty one holes in the fabric later (all the holes there was room for), 21 of the first 25 plants had been trimmed (roots to 3 inches) and placed in the ground. After that, I sealed the row off with a layer of straw.
Now, I just have to hope the plants don’t freeze in the next few weeks.
Related Links:
Burpee – Ozark Beauty Strawberries
AeroGarden #2
Today was my “birthday observed” day, and it is the day I received gifts. My mother decided to get me another AeroGarden, so that I can grow more things. I have already set up the new garden with a chili pepper seed kit. Since the other garden was started on a Saturday, and today is Saturday, they are on the same nutrient schedule, and they have been reset to have the same light schedule.
The peppers require 8 hours of darkness each day, so I have had to make sure both gardens are set to be dark at night. I’m looking forward to seeing more things grow in my environment.
Aereoponic Gardening
It would appear that I have taken on a new hobby, although, this one is self-maintaining. Aeroponic gardening is nearly self-supporting, it requires watering and addition of a nutrient tablet once every 2 weeks. I’m hoping such a small effort will give me big benefits in the way of using fresh herbs in my cooking.
